Jungle Excursion
by Miles333
Summary: Donna and the Doctor visit Bgglorgs, a jungle planet near the farthest reaches of the human empire. What starts out as a holiday for the duo soon turns deadly when the Doctor is gravely injured. *DoctorWhump* Gift fic for Snow'sLuckyCat.


**Disclaimer:** I don't think so. I mean, really. If _Doctor Who_ was mine, WHY would I be writing this fan fiction?

**A/N:** Happy birthday, Snow'sLuckyCat! I think this is probably the whumpiest thing I've ever written. There's not much of a complicated plot to it, just _lotsa whump_. *evil grin*

**Summary:** Donna and the Doctor visit Bgglorgs, a jungle planet near the farthest reaches of the human empire. What starts out as a holiday for the duo soon turns deadly when the Doctor is gravely injured. *DoctorWhump* Gift fic for Snow'sLuckyCat.

**Timeline:** Takes place between _Midnight_ and _Turn Left_.

* * *

Blood, everywhere. It was all she could see. It covered her hands like gloves and was smeared across the pale skin of her arms. It was wet and slippery and red, and smelled like metal or rust.

The Doctor was moaning as she dragged him along, head tossing and beads of sweat popping out all across his brow. His eyes were closed, and he was much paler than normal. His trainers kept getting snagged on branches and roots.

The creature let out a roar of anger, and of hunger. It sounded close. She desperately kept dragging the Doctor backwards, shooting urgent glances over her shoulder. Just a bit farther now, not long before they were safe inside the TARDIS again…

The creature sprang from the trees and landed in Donna's path.

...

...

...

_Two hours earlier_

"Donna, we've landed!" The Doctor leaned around the edge of the TARDIS console, towards the doorway on the far side of the room, which led deeper into the TARDIS. His voice echoed, bouncing back to his own ears. "Donna! Donna?" There was still no answer, so he quickly pulled a few levers and pressed a series of buttons to activate what most humans would call the parking brake. Then he hurried off in search of his companion.

The corridor was impossibly long and several feet wide, with doors lining it at various intervals. Even the Doctor sometimes didn't know where he was going, as the rooms tended to rearrange themselves whenever they felt like it. Which was often. How Donna managed not to be constantly lost, since she was a mere human and didn't possess an amazing Time Lord brain, was beyond him.

"Donna?" The Doctor poked his head into the wardrobe room on a whim, and was rewarded with a bloodcurdling shriek of rage. A shoe bounced off the side of his head, sending him reeling into the wall, and as soon as he had blinked away the stars, he quickly turned back out to face the corridor.

"Haven't you ever heard of _knocking_, Spaceman?" Donna bellowed at him. She finished pulling the camouflage t-shirt on over her head, then huffed with disproval. "I mean, _really_! Where were you born, a barn? Or did they even _have_ barns on your planet?"

The Doctor was still facing the corridor, rubbing his sore head. "I didn't know you were changing!" he protested, ignoring the barn comment. "You were already dressed when we decided to go to Bgglorgs!"

"You said it was a jungle planet, didn't you? Did you think I'd be going in that dress?" Without waiting for a reply, she went on, "You really _are_ an idiot, aren't you?"

"I think I might find that mildly offensive," the Doctor said. "Actually, I think I _do_. Yes, I find that mildly offensive. Maybe even majorly so. I've been called many things, but never an idiot. Not until you came along, Donna Noble."

"Oh, shut your gob. And you can turn around now," she said. The Doctor turned around. Donna was wearing camouflage clothing and sturdy boots. As he watched, she picked up a hat with a wide brim and mashed it down over her hair.

"Donna…what are you _wearing_?" he asked, brows puckered with confusion.

"You said Bgglorgs was a _jungle planet_," Donna said, rolling her eyes. "So I dressed for the jungle. Let me guess. You're going to wear that, as usual."

The Doctor glanced down at his tidy suit and scuffed trainers. "I'd planned to, yeah."

"What about ticks? And snakes? And, I don't know, ginormous space alien things that like to live in the trees?"

"Yes, I'm sure that a hat would protect me from ginormous space alien things," the Doctor said.

She didn't seem to notice his veiled sarcasm, pulling out a tan jacket and shrugging into it. She zipped it up with a brisk movement. "All right, I think I'm ready," she said. "And since you haven't told me, what exactly can I expect from this place? Has it got a South American vibe or what? Little villages of people among the trees, a few savage beasts roaming about? Probably several damsels in distress and scheming aliens thrown in to keep you duly entertained, if I'm right."

The Doctor started walking back towards the console room, hands stuffed in his pockets, and Donna followed. "Bgglorgs is at the farthest reaches of the Fifth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, one of the few planets that humans haven't even touched, much less tried to explore or develop. It's populated by a few groups of native sentients who usually kill any humanoids on sight, and several hundred species of lethal predators. Oh, and there should be some lovely vegetation this time of year." The Doctor beamed cheerfully at her over his shoulder.

"Sounds lovely," Donna said dryly. "I wouldn't have thought you'd pick any other place for a holiday, Doctor."

They had reached the console room again, and the Doctor began gathering up his sonic screwdriver, psychic paper, and several other little objects from one of the battered chairs. "Really? Why's that?"

"Oh, no reason."

Finished adding the last few objects to his pockets, the Doctor theatrically brushed off both hands. "Well, I suppose that's that. Ready to go out?"

"Yeah, might as well. And if I get killed by a giant scorpion or something, you can at least make sure to get the postcards back to my granddad, all right?"

"Course," the Doctor agreed, heading for the doors. He reached for the doorknob, only to have his arm knocked away.

"Let me," Donna said eagerly. She grabbed the knob and pulled. The door creaked open, and she stepped out into a strange new world.

"Donna Noble, welcome to Bgglorgs. You're roughly one of the first human beings in all of history to set foot on this soil," the Doctor said, coming out of the TARDIS and closing the door behind him.

She didn't answer, instead staring with awe at their new surroundings. The dense jungle that surrounded them was probably the most amazing, spectacular thing she had ever seen, even out of all her other travels with the Doctor. The forest around them was thick and green, enormous flowers and vines in brilliant pinks and oranges and yellows and blues exploding from among the ferns and other undergrowth. She couldn't even see the sky through the thick canopy of color. All around them, bushes rustled and unseen animals made strange chirping and trilling sounds.

"This is – this is…" She tried to think of a word to describe to beauty and magnificence of the jungle, but couldn't quite come up with the right one.

"Great, isn't it?" The Doctor was grinning, thrilled with her speechlessness. "Come on, then." He set off at a brisk pace, into the thick tangles of undergrowth.

Donna raced to catch up with him, still a bit stunned by the amazing alien scenery around her. "Where're we going?" she called.

"I dunno. Just for a bit of a gander, I suppose," he replied. "To soak a bit up a bit of Bgglorgs sunshine. Sorry, excuse me, sun_s_shine. Pural. Two suns, you see. Maybe we can find a lake. Would you like that, Donna? A lovely little lake to sit by and enjoy for a few hours?"

"I'd love it," Donna said. She was having a bit of trouble believing that this paradise was actually _real_. It seemed like something from her wildest imaginings. All that was missing were a few scrumptious, shirtless blokes serving drinks. And a pool chair. And a touch of sunscreen. Just the necessities.

The Doctor was having a bit of trouble navigating his way forward. The branches concealing his path seemed to be growing thicker and thicker. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a machete, which he began hacking energetically at the foliage with.

"How did that fit in there?" Donna demanded.

"Donna, Donna, Donna. I thought you would have figured it out by now," he said, raising his voice slightly so that it could be heard over the vigorous chopping and slicing sounds. "Bigger on the inside, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," she said. "But it still doesn't make any _sense_, Spaceman."

He didn't bother to answer, concentrating on his work. Donna didn't try to start up another conversation, instead staring around at the incredible flora that was like nothing she'd ever seen on Earth before. Some glowing yellow and red flowers were the size of a dinner plate. Some had long, flat petals that shivered delicately as she brushed against them. The animal sounds continued, but she still saw no signs of whatever was making them.

They walked on for what felt like forever. She was starting to get tired, and her legs ached from stumbling over rocks and protruding roots. As beautiful as the jungle was, she was starting to regret agreeing to come on this little excursion. It was incredibly hot, like a sauna. Ahead of her, the Doctor seemed to be just as full of energy as he had been when they'd first started off. She tried her best not to hate him, but it was hard.

Finally, the Doctor sliced away a last layer of undergrowth and carefully slid the machete back into his jacket. "Ah-_ha_! Molto bene, if I do say so _myself_!"

"What?" she asked wearily, stepping forward to peer around him. She was staring to wish she hadn't worn her jacket; it was making her much too warm. Little trickles of sweat were running all down her arms and the backs of her legs.

"This!" he cried.

The glistening waters of a fairly large river could be seen through the parted trees, just down a tall incline. The clear water looked cool and refreshing, rushing over large boulders as it was. The pale green sky overhead, full of fluffy pink clouds of two purple suns, was reflected in it.

"Does that look like a good river to rest and relax by?" the Doctor asked. "We could name it that, you know. If you want to, that is. River Donna's-Supreme-Choice-To-Rest-And-Relax-By. We could stop by the Official Planet-Naming Office on Gohg when we finish up here and file the papers. Of course, then we'd probably be tied up with red tape for five and a half years before they finally got to our request, but oh well."

"Stop babbling," Donna said, unable to tear her eyes from the water. All she could think about was sitting down beside it and splashing water on her face. Maybe even soaking her feet a bit. Yes, this holiday was slowly sounding better and better.

The Doctor chivalrously offered her his arm. "Off we go, Ms. Noble?"

"Don't think I'm touching _that_," Donna said, eyeing his crooked arm with disgust. "You've been sweating the whole way here, dumbo!"

"Oi, I haven't been sweating," the Doctor said with a scowl. "Besides, you were, too! Humans sweat _buckets_ when it isn't even…sixty degrees!"

She rolled her eyes at his childish insult, apparently towards the entirety of the human race, then started off down the incline stretching out before them. It was very steep, and stumps and large rocks made up a challenging obstacle course. Donna started to regret her stubborn refusal to accept the Doctor's help about a third of the way down.

Especially when her foot slipped out from under her, catching on a root, and she began to fall.

"Doctor!" she screeched, arms flailing wildly as she tried to regain her balance. She could feel herself toppling over. The ground so far below, maybe thirty feet, tilted dangerously.

"Donna!" He tripped over himself in his haste to get to her, thankfully catching her sleeve just before she could fall. Donna teetered, barely saved, and decided that she was actually very grateful she'd decided to wear the jacket after all.

She turned to thank him as she regained her balance, just as the Doctor's trainers slipped out from under him and he fell. She shouted his name a second time as he rolled past like a log, down the incline. She fell over on her bum and very nearly followed him, clutching frantically at one of the obtruding roots just in time. She hung there and could only watch with horror as he rolled down, down, down, and eventually landed hard on the ground beside the rushing river. He didn't move.

Donna used the root to pull herself to her feet, then slid haphazardly down the incline, arms pumping in an effort to keep her balance.

The Doctor was laying facedown beside the water's edge when she reached him, covered with leaves and dirt. As she dropped to her knees beside him, he moaned and turned his head. There was a cut on his cheek. As he slowly opened his eyes, she saw that they were sort of glassy, instead of full of his usual boyish exuberance.

"Are you all right?" she asked breathlessly. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"My…ankle," he grunted, grimacing. "I think it's…broken."

She glanced down towards his left ankle, which did seem to be twisted the wrong way. "Oh God. What the hell am I supposed to do now? There's no way you can get back up that hill in this state, much less walk all the way back to the TARDIS!"

"It's okay, Donna, just don't panic," the Doctor said, face white with pain.

"Don't panic? Don't _panic_? How I supposed to not _panic_? You're got a bloody broken ankle, and we're stranded in the middle of an alien jungle! What part of this situation am I supposed to _not panic_ about?"

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and breathed deeply before opening them again. When he spoke, his voice sounded nothing like it normally did, instead overly calm and slightly hurried. "Donna, I need you to listen to me, yes? I think I can make it make up the incline if you'll help me, then we can get back to the TARDIS in no time at all. All right?"

She laughed, starting to feel a bit hysterical. "Are you _insane_, Doctor? There's no way you can make it back up there, not with a broken ankle!"

"Donna, _listen_ to me," he insisted, reaching out and grabbing her wrist in one hand. "We haven't got a choice. If we can't get back to the TARDIS by sundown, which is in approximately forty minutes…"

"What?" she croaked.

"Let's just say that all the…carnivorous wildlife of Bgglorgs prefer to come out at that time," he said.

"Oh my God," she said. "Oh my God. We're going to die! In the middle of _nowhere_!"

"We're not going to die," the Doctor said quickly. "I promise you, Donna Noble, that we are not going to die. But you've got to trust me, and you've _got_ to help me get up that hill."

She nodded and took several deep breaths to prepare herself. Okay, she could do this. She was Donna Noble, and she was strong. She couldn't just give up. Not after she'd faced all the things she had, chunks of living fat and Ood and Sontarans. "Okay. All right. We can do this, Spaceman," she said, though she was actually trying to encourage herself.

She scrambled to her feet and then bent over to grab him by one arm. With agonizing slowness, she tugged him to his feet, trying not to notice the way his lips were clenched. When he was finally back into an upright position, his face was even whiter.

Donna wrapped one of the Doctor's arms around her neck, supporting as much of his weight as she could. His eyes were dark with pain, and he seemed to be having trouble focusing. "Doctor, you ready?" she asked brightly.

He nodded wordlessly.

Slowly, they started making their way up the mountain. Each time the Doctor's injured foot came into contact with the ground, his body jerked. Donna knew he had to be in excruciating pain, but there was nothing she could do to help him. Only get them both back to the TARDIS, before sundown.

Donna had no real way of knowing for certain, but they weren't going to make it in time. And things were about to get a whole lot worse.

* * *

It took the two of them roughly half an hour before they got to the top of the incline. Donna's muscles were aching, and the Doctor didn't look as though he felt much better. She suggested they rest, for just a little while, and the Doctor didn't protest. She carefully helped him sit down, then knelt beside his leg. She rolled up his pants leg while he hissed his disapproval through gritted teeth.

The skin of his ankle was a deep purple, showing exactly where the bone had been broken. Donna bit her lip. "Doesn't look too bad," she lied, carefully rolling the pants leg back down again.

The Doctor leaned his head back against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes. "We're not too far off," he mumbled, so quietly that Donna had to strain to hear him. "Shouldn't take very long to reach the TARDIS from here."

"Great. As soon as you're ready, Doctor, I think we should start off again." Donna looked up towards what she could see of the sky through the canopy of trees. The pair of purple suns was sinking rapidly through the sky, and she could already feel an evening chill in the air. What the Doctor had told her about carnivorous wildlife rang ominously in her ears.

She helped him hobble back to his feet, and he gasped when his foot touched the dirt this time. "I'm fine," he rushed to assure her, though his voice sounded anything but. "I just need to get to the sickbay, and I'll be perfectly back to normal. Well, I _say_ normal. Normal enough. For me," he finished weakly.

They started off through the trees, following the path the Doctor had previously carved with his machete. Donna grew more and more tired, and the suns slowly disappeared beyond the horizon. A single crimson moon rose to take their places, bathing the landscape with an eerie blood red glow. Donna felt for the first time that they were truly on an alien world. And that scared her. A lot. Especially since the Doctor wasn't doing very well at all.

Most of the animal sounds around them that Donna had grown almost used to hearing faded away, leaving behind a silence that did nothing to calm her rising nerves. The Doctor didn't seem to notice, head lolling forward as they staggered on. He was barely conscious.

"Doctor, stay awake," Donna said, her voice sounding too loud in the stillness. "Come on, Spaceman, quit making me do all the work here. Not that that's any different than usual, of course…"

The smallest of smiles twisted his lips, but he said nothing. That was much more worrying than his broken ankle, in Donna's opinion. She'd never imagined seeing the day when the Doctor was actually speechless.

It was very worrying.

"Has anyone ever told you how heavy you are?" she asked in, in a last attempt to keep him conscious. "Seriously, Doctor, for such a skinny rake, you're completely–"

She broke off as a dark shape moved into their path, slinking out of the trees. She had been so busy concentrating on the Doctor that she hadn't even heard it approach. But now that it was right in front of her, the thing was hard to miss.

It was huge and black, like an enormous panther. Its lithe muscles rippled under the glossy black fur covering its muscled shoulders. A pair of eyes like red coals gleamed from its face, and white teeth shone in the crimson moonlight as it opened its massive maw and growled.

Suddenly, the Doctor seemed more awake than he had in ages. His body went rigid with tension, and he reached out and snatched one of Donna's hands. She was too afraid of the snarling creature to say anything as his nails dug into her palm. "Donna, you've got to _run_," he said hoarsely, tone one of utter desperation. "Do you hear me? I'll distract that thing while you get out of here. Don't stop running until you get back to the TARDIS."

"Don't be daft! I am _not_ leaving you!"

The creature let loose a roar like nothing she had ever heard before. She thought it sounded like a t-rex might have. Goose bumps sprang out across her skin. It took a wary step forward, two long tails swishing out behind it.

"Donna, you don't understand–"

She interrupted him by fumbling in his jacket pocket, still struggling to support his weight at the same time. She didn't take her eyes from the massive beast as it slunk closer, saliva now dribbling from its lips, presumably in anticipation of fresh meat. Her fingers touched cool metal, then closed around the sonic screwdriver. She drew it from the Doctor's jacket.

"Donna–"

It pounced. Before Donna could react, much less defend herself, it landed against them both with a surge of immense power and strength. Donna was thrown backwards, slamming into a tree with enough force to knock the breath from her lungs. She blinked rapidly to clear her blurred vision, just in time to see the creature rear up and tear into the Doctor.

"No!"

It forced him backwards to the dirt and attacked with its claws and teeth, issuing a yowl of triumph. The Doctor screamed in pain, a sound so terrible that Donna was frozen for a few moments. Blood was all over the ground, though thankfully the Doctor's body was hidden from sight. All she could see around the attacking creature was several flailing limbs as the weak Doctor fought for his life.

He screamed again, and she snapped back to her senses, remembering the sonic screwdriver still clutched in one hand. Clumsily raising the screwdriver to point at the creature, she pressed the switch. Its skin seemed to almost shimmer, and it fell back into the trees with a terrifying shriek.

Hardly daring believe that it could have been defeated so easily, she stuffed the screwdriver into her jacket pocket and ran to the Doctor. Blood was everywhere, pooling around him and staining his suit. He tossed his head from side to side, eyes wide and glassy as he tried to focus.

"Oh my God. Doctor! Doctor, what the bloody hell am I supposed to do?" Donna screamed, thinking belatedly that it probably wasn't best to be shouting at the Doctor when he was so badly injured.

She knelt before him and clawed at the buttons holding his jacket closed. Underneath, his flimsy shirt was mostly torn to shreds. She could see the skin of his chest, ripped into by the creature's sharp claws. Thankfully, they didn't seem too deep. But he was losing too much blood, too fast. If she couldn't get him back to the TARDIS...

"Doctor, what do I _do_?" She leaned forward until her face was inches from his. Sweat poured down his face, along with blood from a cut above his right eye.

"Get…to…TARDIS," he gasped, back arching from the ground with the obvious effort he used to speak. Pain laced across his features. He looked nothing like the seemingly carefree Doctor she knew. It was like something from a horror film as she fumbled with his shirt, trying to use it to stop some of the bleeding. Blood was all over her sleeves and hands, in a much darker shade than the crimson moonlight. Donna could feel her chest aching; she couldn't seem to get a deep breath. "Got to get to…TARDIS."

"Okay, right. We'll get to the TARDIS." Donna staggered to her feet, slipping in a pile of blood. The _Doctor's_ blood. Sour bile rose in the back of her throat, which she fought to keep down. "Okay, Spaceman, let's get a shift on! I'll just…help you a bit." She bent and tried to pull him to his feet; he groaned loudly, the sound coming from deep in his throat.

There was no possible way he was going to be able to walk the short distance back to the TARDIS, even with her help.

Donna bit her lower lip, hard, then grabbed his arms. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but this is the fastest way I can think of to get us out of here," she said, trying not to notice the way he cried out in pain as she started backwards, dragging him along like a sack of rubbish. "No complaining, either; we'll be back at the TARDIS before you know it!"

She hoped to God – or whoever was listening – that she wasn't lying.

Her back was aching after only a few feet of dragging the Doctor, and her neck hurt from swiveling her head round every few seconds to check where she was going. The thick branches and undergrowth didn't help matters much, constantly snagging on the Doctor's clothing. Every root or stone she pulled him over made the Doctor gasp or cry out.

From somewhere close by, the creature let out a roar of fury, or maybe hunger. It was hard to tell. But the fearsome noise was much too close, and made Donna pick up the pace, dragging the Doctor as fast as she possible could. Just how far had they ventured from the TARDIS, anyway?

The creature roared again. "Doctor, you're not being very much help!" Donna cried with desperation, nearly tripping over something. He didn't answer, dark eyes rolling wildly in his head.

And then, as she shot yet another desperate look over her shoulder, there was the TARDIS. It stood among the jungle trees just a few yards away, blue wooden shell looking to be a dark purple in the moonlight. Donna almost sobbed with relief. They were really going to make it!

Suddenly, the creature leapt into her path. It landed on the ground with a thud, twin tails swishing out behind it and fangs glistening as it drew back its lips. And it stood between them and the TARDIS.

Donna fumbled in her pocket, searching frantically for the screwdriver. Where was it, where _was_ it…?

With an inhuman cry, it lunged for them. Donna drew out the screwdriver and hit the right switch a second time, flooding the creature with sonic sound waves. It fell back, staggering and shaking its head, eyes shining with bewilderment.

Taking advantage of its distraction, Donna pressed the switch up into the automated position, and resumed pulling the Doctor backwards. Making sure to keep her head tilted so the device continued to bombard the dazed creature, she pulled out her TARDIS key and fumbled behind her back to fit it into the scratched lock. With a click and a long creaking noise, the door opened.

Donna dragged the Doctor over the threshold, into the TARDIS, and slammed the door.

Outside, the creature shook its head a final time, then roared with rage as it realized that its prey had somehow managed to evade it. It turned and slunk away into the trees, head bowed low to the ground as it searched for another promising scent.

* * *

Donna hurried down the TARDIS corridor, holding two white mugs of ginger tea. It wasn't exactly her favorite kind, but it was the Doctor's, and he was currently the invalid. So she was willing to drink it just this once, for his sake.

Not that he was being the model patient. They'd only been back in the TARDIS a little over three hours, just enough time for Donna to clean up the trail of blood showing where she'd dragged the Doctor through the TARDIS and make the tea, and he was already complaining loudly and insisting that he was perfectly fine. She was considering tying him down for a bit. He may have been a high-and-mighty Time Lord with amazing regenerative machines, but he still needed a good helping of rest every once and a while, in her opinion.

As soon as they'd made in the sickbay, the Doctor had managed to regain just enough consciousness to inform her that she needed to lay him down on the metal table in the corner. As soon as she had done so, stepping back a safe distance, a glowing white shell had rose up like the closing petals of a rose and completely enveloped him. There he had stayed, the machine making odd throbbing and beeping noises, for about an hour.

When the shell had finally receded, much to the worried Donna's relief, to reveal a nearly-healed Doctor blinking up at the ceiling, she almost hadn't been able to believe her eyes. Only a few of the cuts that the creature had inflicted on him remained, the majority gone as though they'd never existed. And his broken ankle had snapped right back into place.

The Doctor, coherent but a bit groggy, had tried to explain to her how the machine worked. It had gone somewhere along the lines of him talking about "bodily regenerative mechanics" and "temporal fusion humanoid rehabilitators". Finally, Donna had just given up and decided she would never know how the amazing machine actually worked, only that it did.

Back in the present, she found the right doorway, and entered the TARDIS sickbay. She caught the Doctor in the middle of pulling on a new shirt exactly like the one he'd been wearing before the Bgglorgs trek. He looked flustered, quickly finishing up the last few buttons. "Oi, Donna! Can't anyone get dressed in peace around here?"

"Now you know how I felt this morning. Or evening. Or whatever time it was," Donna said. She put one of the mugs down on a little table and watched as the Doctor rolled up his sleeves and carefully sat down in a silver chair. "How're you feeling, Spaceman? A bit sore?" she guessed, eyeing the way he moved as little as possible while picking up the mug and taking a sip.

"Nah, much better. Thanks, though," he said. "Very invigorating, that healing process. I've got _loads_ of energy now. I feel like I could run a twenty-mile marathon on Mars. Well, maybe not Mars. Pluto the Second, actually. Or maybe Pluto Original. I dunno. They're both basically the same, really. Wouldn't you say so, Donna?"

"Lovely," was all she said, with the faintest touch of sarcasm in her voice.

"So what do you want to do next? Unless you'd rather go back out for another quick hike." The Doctor grinned cheekily.

"Not for me, thanks. That's enough holidays to last me a _long_ time. First that spa place on planet whatchamacallit, Midnight, now this. I can see why all your other companions ended up leaving, Doctor, if this is the kind of thing you call a nice holiday."

The Doctor looked a bit hurt. "Well, I thought it was fun," he said. "Except for falling down that hill and breaking my leg. Oh, and the whole being-mauled-by-a-giant-huge-bloody-enormous-alien-creature thing. And not to sound like I'm complaining or anything – complaining's the last thing I want – but couldn't you have been a bit more _careful_ when you were dragging me along?"

"Oi, you're heavier than you look!" Donna said, scowling at him. "Why don't you try dragging yourself through a godforsaken alien jungle in the middle of the night and see how you like it!"

"That _could_ be a bit difficult, but I'll give it a go…" the Doctor said with mock seriousness.

"Oh, shut it. I'm going to bed. It's high time for a bit of kip," Donna said, turning to go.

"You never did say where you wanted to go next," the Doctor called after her.

She paused in the doorway and looked back at him. He looked a bit pathetic, sitting there along with his cooling mug of ginger tea and several healing bruises along his cheeks and forehead. No matter what he said, she could see that he was still in quite a bit of pain. She was going to have to keep a close eye on him for a bit, to make sure he didn't get in over his head again _too_ soon.

"I don't know, why don't you pick a place," she said. "And make it good."

He looked eager at her interest, leaning forward before wincing and collapsing back into his chair again. "Well, I was thinking of this bazaar on Shan Shen. It's sort of like Chinatown, only much bigger and full of, well, aliens. Thousands of beings across the cosmos go there every day. Just imagine it, a teaming _mass_ of color and movement and chatter. I think you'd like it. We could even pick up a bit of a souvenir for your granddad. If you want."

"Sounds perfect," Donna said. "But before that, we're going to find the _hot tub_ planet and give it a visit. I'm sure one exists out there _somewhere_. And there'd better not be any trees or rainbow vines or moons or any of that baloney involved, got that?"

"Baloney. I like that word. Haven't used it in several decades," the Doctor said delightedly. "Baloney. Baloney. And no trees involved, Donna Noble, I swear on both my hearts. Cross them both and hope to…er, not die?"

She smirked at him. "See you in a bit, Spaceman."

He nodded, without saying anything for a change, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes.

Donna's smirk softened into a smile as she watched him, and an overwhelming surge of relief washed over her. She was so glad he was okay. She didn't know what she would have done if her best friend had been killed by that thing. But luckily, everything had turned out okay in the end. Luck had been on their side today.

Taking another sip of her tea, she turned and headed for her bedroom.

**

* * *

**

I was up late last night working on this, then I had to get up freakishly early this morning to go somewhere. When I finally got home again, I wrote some more! Here's the finished project, finally. *dies*

**Oh, and I really hope you enjoyed it, S'sLC! :D**


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